Secretary Gwanggong's Survival Diary-Chapter 10

“Good work today, President.”

“For fuck’s sake, how many meetings does one man need in a day?”

After my unwanted promotion was over, I wasn’t allowed to return home. I stood waiting outside the conference room where Yoon Taeo was in his meeting, then followed behind him, taking his files as he stormed out with irritation all over his face.

“I’ll try to keep them to a minimum going forward.”

Like hell you can. I mean, the guy has more money than he can spend—why not just hire a professional CEO and sit at home counting cash? Why are Alpha protagonists in dramas always this psychotically obsessed with working?

“The resort construction?”

How would I know. I’ve been standing here for two minutes with no briefing.

I hurriedly opened the secretary-exclusive internal work platform.

“It’s about a month behind schedule. And the casino license hasn’t been approved... and the contractor for Zone 3 ran off with the mo—huh?”

What the hell is this...?

“What?”

“I think the system glitched. I’ll recheck and report after lunch.”

The status report was such a mess it actually made sense why the Team 2 Leader bailed. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t the secretary team’s fault, but the fact that Taeo had no idea about any of this until now—yeah, that’s definitely a secretary-level screw-up. I don’t know how he hadn’t noticed it yet either.

“Let’s eat.”

“I’ve made a reservation for Korean fine dining today. You had Western food for both lunch and dinner yesterday.”

“Did I?”

It was well past lunch. Whatever happened inside that meeting room, Yoon Taeo’s mood was clearly shit. I had to take hurried little steps just to keep pace with his long strides. I ran ahead to press the elevator button for his private lift.

“Right... That’s what the records say...”

It’s not like I personally know where or what Taeo eats. I just skimmed the logs the other secretaries left behind.

“Excuse me, President.”

Maybe his work wasn’t over yet—his eyes stayed glued to his phone. In the meantime, I stood on tiptoe and straightened his tie. He must’ve gotten pissed off enough that even his tie was slightly askew, which was very un-Taeo-like. He hated looking anything less than perfectly put-together, so I fixed it quickly.

“Heading down to the parking garage now, sir.”

There was a designated boarding zone in the garage. Can’t exactly pull up to the lobby every time, so it was made exclusively for Yoon Taeo. Fortunately, this time the chauffeur had already gotten out and opened the door. Taeo got in the back seat, and I climbed into the front.

In the quiet car, with nothing else to do, I opened my tablet. I wanted to get a closer look at the resort project I hadn’t finished reviewing earlier.

Even in Madman, which was branded as a romance, there were a few heavy plot arcs aside from the love stuff. Though all of them ended up tangled with his Betas anyway, the Jeju resort development was pretty much the main event. It wouldn’t hurt to study up on it more. The drama didn’t show any of this background anyway.

“We’re here.”

We arrived at the restaurant, and I stepped out first to open the car door for him. But instead of getting out, Taeo just stared at my face like he was drilling holes in it.

“What the hell is this?”

“...Excuse me?”

And he said it in that voice—that cold, crooked one. Taeo stayed sitting, eyes fixed on my face for a long moment, then finally stood. He was easily a head taller, his gaze pouring down in a straight line. He stepped so close that I thought our chests might touch.

“Why is Secretary Kim here right now.”

“...Excuse me? I’m—Secretary Baek—hic...!”

You get it, right? When you’re so shocked it hits your diaphragm? That kind of hiccup. That’s ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ how overwhelming his voice was. He wasn’t even trying to hide his irritation.

“W-we came together since earlier—hic—sir...”

I’d been trailing him since we left the company, so I had no clue what he was going on about now.

“Right. Secretary Baek.”

“Y-yes, sir...”

Yoon Taeo reached out and cupped my chin. He tilted my head upward. He was standing so close I had to lean my head way back just to make eye contact. His burning stare locked onto mine, and I gripped the tablet in both hands tighter.

“So my words are really just fucking meaningless to you.”

“N-no, not at all!”

I didn’t even know what he meant, but I had to deny it.

“Then why do you ignore me over and over? I told you—you’re on probation. Stay at home.”

His thumb grazed beneath my lip as he held my chin. His voice growled like a monster, but the motion was... strangely ticklish. It felt like a gesture that demanded a reply, but—fuck—my whole body started to flush again. Probably because I was scared of that face. Probably because I knew he could shatter my jaw at any second. ...Probably.

“W-would you like to talk inside? Our President... your legs must be tired. You’ve had such a long day of meetings...”

Even as I babbled nonsense, Taeo just kept staring at me like he was tearing me apart with his eyes.

“You better convince me perfectly, Secretary Baek.”

Who am I going to throw under the bus this time to make it out alive...?

“Sit down.”

“I-I don’t think I should sit at the same table as you, sir...”

It was a modern-style fusion Korean fine dining place. One of the few Michelin-starred chefs in Korea had opened it recently. The kind of place that serves one bite of each dish and charges hundreds of dollars. But hey, I couldn’t exactly take Yoon Taeo to some mom-and-pop diner, could I?

“Sit. Down.”

That low voice again—so I quickly plopped down in the chair. Sitting at the same table was awkward and uncomfortable, but honestly, I was just hoping I could use the time to think of a decent excuse.

“Why is Secretary Baek sitting next to me at this hour?”

“Well... the Team 2 Leader’s position is vacant.”

“He ran off, I heard.”

I tried to soften it in case he didn’t know the full story, but Taeo was already aware. Turns out, he has this need to know and control everything around him.

“Yes... So I had a meeting with the Team 3 Leader, and I’ll be serving as your aide at the company too.”

Just the facts. And I subtly offloaded the responsibility onto Team 3 Leader—one of the people he apparently favors.

“So now you're saying you followed his orders over mine.”

“That’s... It was an emergency, I had no choice... I couldn’t leave you unguarded, sir. And my injuries have mostly healed.”

Yoon Taeo fell silent again. Maybe it only lasted a second, but it felt like an eternity to me.

“I’ve never seen a secretary as arrogant as you, in my whole damn life.”

“...I’m sorry. Should I call the Team 3 Leader...?”

Yoon Taeo’s face, as he tapped the table with his fingertips, betrayed no emotion. He really was a strange man. Sometimes he radiated such vicious hostility you were afraid to even open your mouth, and sometimes he wore this blank expression that gave nothing away.

Either way, he clearly didn’t like me being in front of him right now. So disappearing from his sight felt like the smart thing to do.

“Go ahead. Try it. I didn’t like the Team 2 Leader much anyway—I was planning to clean him up soon.”

“C-clean him up...?”

“Let’s order.”

Maybe the Team 2 Leader ran away because he already sensed that Taeo was done with him. If you’re gonna lose your neck anyway, running at least gives you a shot. That’s just reasonable.

In the drama, the secretary teams were usually treated like background props, and only the Team 3 Leader—arguably a main—showed up with any regularity. So there was no way of knowing what Taeo thought of the others.

“Eat.”

“...Yes. I don’t really have an appetite, but... thank you.”

This was uncomfortable. If we weren’t in a private room, it might’ve been easier. But eating in a room alone with Yoon Taeo made my untouched meal feel like it was stuck in my throat. Still, I had no choice but to eat, so I picked up my chopsticks.

“...Didn’t you say you weren’t hungry?”

Just as I was working through each course in order, a sudden voice came from across the table.

“Excuse me...?”

“Why are you shoveling it all in one bite? Haven’t you been eating lately?”

“Ah...”

Yeah. It was a course meal, so the dishes came out one by one. But the second each plate landed in front of me, I just scooped it up and stuffed it in. At first, I wasn’t thinking much of it, but the more I ate, the more it hit me how fucking good it was. Must be the taste of money.

“Maybe... it’s because I’m dining with you, sir? I’ve never had a meal this close to you before, so I guess it kinda sparked my appetite. You know that feeling—where just looking at someone fills you up?”

I don’t even know what bullshit I was spewing, but I blurted out whatever I could. Looking back, yeah, I definitely went a little feral with the food. I mean, when would I ever get to eat like this again in my life? It is Michelin-starred, after all.

“Well, I suppose it’s good you’re eating well.”

Let’s pretend I didn’t hear the part that probably came after—“even if you have no manners.” I was always told as a kid that I eat “healthily.” That just watching me made people hungry. Maybe that’s why Yoon Taeo also cleaned his plate. Considering he usually pokes at his food and leaves it, that was kind of shocking.

“I’ll be eating dinner out tonight. Head back first.”

“...Sir? Are you going somewhere?”

As we were wrapping up the meal, Taeo casually dropped that line.

“Do I need to report personal plans to my secretary now?”

“Well... then I’ll at least assign a security team.”

Yeah, I don’t need to know either. I just want to go home already, bastard.

“Put Team 2 on standby.”

“...Team 2 is currently undergoing reorganization, sir.”

You’re the one who wiped them out. Security’s left with just Team 1 and Team 3 now, absorbing what was left of Team 2. A classic MK Capital-style reshuffle.

“Team 3.”

“Yes, sir. Understood.”

Oh, hell yeah. If he’s got plans, that means no overtime, no dinner duty. I can go home and actually end the day in peace. Alone.

“...You’re not happy about that, are you?”

“Of course not, sir. Please be careful out there. The world’s getting dangerous these days—it worries me sick.”

Shit. Did he catch on...? Gotta be careful not to look too thrilled. And anyway, like it or not, I always end up knowing his entire schedule. The secretary team and security team record every damn word he says in detail. Just in case they need a way to save their asses later. It’s like the royal secretariat logs from the Joseon dynasty, seriously.

And of course, that means something is going to happen. Always.